Employees Of Aided Institutions Can Move Directly Against Government In Case Of Non-Payment: Rajasthan High Court

The Rajasthan High Court has reiterated that employees of aided education institutions, where part of their renumeration is to be paid by the state government, can initiate execution proceedings directly against the government in case of non-payment of dues.

The Court was hearing a batch of Writ Petitions by the managing committee of aided education institutions where the appointment of the Respondents was against sanctioned and aided posts and their payments were to be borne by the institution and the state government in a set proportion. The institutions, which had paid their part of the dues, had moved the petition seeking a direction to Respondents to realise the rest from the state government directly.

A Single-Judge Bench of Justice Sudesh Bansal said, "[I]t is crystal clear that the respondent-Employee(s) are entitled to recover their dues directly from the State Government in a ratio of sanctioned grant-in-aid and since in the case at hand, same is 80%, therefore, if 20% of dues has been paid/released by the petitioner-Institution, then respondent-Employee may proceed for execution proceedings to recover the remaining 80% of their dues directly from the State Government, following the ratio decidendi expounded in case of The Management Committee Sh. Bhagwan Das Todi College."

Advocate Sandeep Pathak appeared for the Petitioners, Deputy Government Counsel Namita Parihar appeared for the Respondents.

In State of Rajasthan & Anr. Vs. The Management Committee Sh. Bhagwan Das Todi College (2016), a Division Bench of the High Court had held that the grant-in-aid can be sanctioned and paid directly by the state government to the employees of the aided educational institutions as per the Rajasthan Non-Government Educational Institution Act, 1989.

In the present case, appointment of the Respondents was against sanctioned and aided posts and hence, their pay, allowances, arrears of salary on revision of pay-scale, leave encashment and so on was to be paid for by the managing committee and the state government in a set proportion. The management was to pay 20 percent, and the rest was to be paid by the state government. While the former had paid the amount due to it, though without interest, the latter had not. 

The above proportion of payment was confirmed through a Judgment by the Rajasthan Non-Government Educational Tribunal, Jaipur, with an additional direction to pay interest for the delay.

The Deputy Government Counsel for Rajasthan submitted that as and when an institution sends the due drawn statement of respondent-Employees to the state government, the government after verification from the record, will make the payment of dues to the employees. It was contended that the state government is not responsible for the delay and, therefore, cannot be held responsible for payment of interest.

On the aspect of interest to be paid to the Respondents, the High Court said, "As far as claim of interest on the delayed payment is concerned, obviously for 20% of dues, for which petitioner-Institution accepts its liability, interest is to be borne by the petitioner-Institution only."

For the remainder, it said, "In respect of remaining 80% of dues, the issue hinges on the point that whether the due drawn statement in respect of each employee has been prepared and forwarded by the petitioner-Institution to the State Government?" Based on the executing Court's Order, the High Court noted that due drawn statements in respect of each Respondent-employees were not furnished by the petitioner-Institution. 

"In such scenario, the liability to pay the interest on the remaining 80% dues of the respondent-Employees is to be decided and determined by the executing Court," the High Court concluded.

Cause Title: Managing Committee, K.D. Jain Shikshan Parishad v Santosh Pareek [S.B. Civil Writ Petition 10864/2024]

Appearance:

Petitioners: Sandeep Pathak

Respondents: Deputy Government Counsel Namita Parihar and Advocates Rajat Ranjan and Aman Pareek

Click here to read/download the Order